LEWISTON, Maine — Maine Congressman Jared Golden said he is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and the rights of gun owners. He had a long record opposing any ban on assault-style rifles.
The mass shooting in Lewiston changed that.
In a wide-ranging interview with 207, Golden said that because of the shooting in his own city, he came to the conclusion that rifles like the one used in the mass shooting are inherently different from sporting rifles routinely used by hunters, and therefore should be treated differently.
"It shattered a lot of perceptions I had about why it was safe to have these types of rifles in Maine," Golden told NEWS CENTER Maine. "I thought we were different in some way. Clearly, we are not. No community is any longer."
Golden has extensive experience using rifles similar to the AR-15, as a Marine in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said he used those weapons in combat, and said there has been extensive development over the years by the military and the manufacturers to make them as accurate, easy to fire and as capable as possible.
"If I were going to get into a gun fight and couldn’t have a machine gun or something bigger….this is the rifle I would choose. If I needed to accurately engage my targets quickly."
Golden is a gun owner himself, and said he owns one of the rifles in question, as do thousands of others Mainers.
But the third-term Congressman said he has concluded that because the weapons are so good, they also present a risk to public safety.
"But when it comes to this particular rifle, the change for me is accepting that it is uniquely dangerous and effective and different even than other semi automatic rifles. And therefore, I think for gun owners the best thing is to come up with a different way of handling them and dealing with them, such that we aren’t losing our rights through other means, whether it is expanded background checks or other measures."
Golden suggested that, instead of an outright ban, the government might create a permit system for those who want to own certain assault-style rifles. He said there is precedent for that, since possession of a machine gun has long been illegal, except for those with a federal license.
Golden came under strong criticism from some Republicans for his position change on the issue, but said he is not worried about the impact of that on his re-election hopes. Golden confirmed he is running for a fourth term, but insisted he supports term limits on himself as well as others.
"I don’t see myself in Congress forever, I have family growing, [and I] don’t like to be away from them all the time."
"So if its another year, or three years, that’s up to the voters."